The Eighty-first of 108 Gates Of Dharma Illumination

[Shokai]

81) The Eighty-first Gate: Right Mindfulness

Right mindfulness is a gate of Dharma illumination; for [with it] we do not consider all dharmas intellectually (Nishijima/Cross)

Right mindfulness is a gate of realizing dharma; it leads to freedom from thoughts on all things. (Tanahashi)

Gate Gatha:

May we, together with all buddhas;
Practice Right Mindfulness,
That we may attain the other shore.

Reflection Prompts:

1. How does Right Mindfulness change our peception of dharmas?

2. Are dharmas and things synonymous?

3. Write a new Gate Gatha.

Capping Verse:

Perceive emptiness
Before form
Puts it in a box

gassho, Shokai
stlah

[Jishin]

Right Mindfulness, a gate to see
Beyond the veil of thoughts and tea
To truly know the dharma's way
And find freedom from the mind's sway

No longer bound by concepts, true
We see things as they are, anew
Mindfulness, a key to unlock
The door to truth, without a shock

Dharmas and things, not quite the same
One is essence, the other, a name
Mindfulness shows us the divide
And lets us see what's truly inside

May we join the buddhas great
In mindfulness, we contemplate
The way to cross to the other shore
And find truth, forevermore

Gassho, Jishin, ST, LAH

[aprapti]

[emoji1374] aprapti


sat

[Tairin]

Thank you Shokai

1. How does Right Mindfulness change our perception of dharmas?

I think at least the Nishijima/Cross translation gets to the heart of it. There is a tendency to over analyze or try to intellectualize. For me part of being mindful includes recognizing my own tendencies.

2. Are dharmas and things synonymous?

The translation specifically states “all things” in which case I say yes. The distinction being that “all things” is a reference to the whole. Once we start talking about specific things we have already started to decompose into smalller and smaller parts and offer intellectual interpretations of what we perceive

May we, together with all buddhas;
Practice Right Mindfulness,
That we may see through the cloud of our perceptions


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Shonin Risa Bear]

It is never the same twice -- how is it a "thing?"

I picture Dongshan here again years later, with an unsui. The unsui remarks, "Isn't this the place where you had your enlightenment experience?" Dongshan takes out a bowl and dips it in the stream for a refreshing drink.




gassho, ds sat. Lovely morning

[Shokai]

[Tai Do]

Thank you, Shokai.

1. By being mindful, we return to the phenomena as they are and don’t become lose in our divisive and prejudiced views of them.

2. I think dharma refers to more than things, including also events, facts and all phenomena.

3.
Cultivating mindfulness,
May we, together with all Buddhas,
Perceive the emptiness of all dharmas
And be free from greed, anger and ignorance.

Gassho,
Tai Do
Satlah